Thundercat on the internet, Mac Miller, and new album Distracted

Thundercat walks into The FADER office wearing a cape. It’s a fitting look for the musical superhero, who parlayed his early bass-prodigy status into a two-decade-plus career as an artist and collaborator for music’s best and brightest. Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar, and the late great Mac Miller, have all been close friends and collaborators. Plus, Thundercat has a few notable musical sparring partners — like Tame Impala, and Lil Yachty — as featured guests on his newest album, Distracted, out April 3.

The project is a characteristically virtuosic, jazzy set of songs that, per its title, explores the frenetic nature of online life. “Nowadays, it sucks,” he says grimly, briefly pausing his jolly hum.

His social commentary project is still heavy on laughs, though, like the Mac Miller-featuring (and previously leaked) “She Knows Too Much,” which translates the close friends’ shared humor into musical form. “When that [song] came out of him, my jaw was on the floor,” Thundercat remembers of Miller’s speedy writing and recording of the track. The song’s lyrics, about the realities of dating while famous, struck him. “'You could talk about the universe and energy but all you really want is a celebrity' — is like, What has this man seen? What mountains has he climbed?”

Arriving over a half-decade after his last album, Distracted finds the Los Angeles artist in classic, if not a bit more weathered, form. He’s since gotten sober, and with his new wizened outlook, Thundercat chatted with The FADER about growing up alongside musical greats, the disappointment of the modern internet, and “getting caught cheating.”

The FADER: I recently spoke to Flying Lotus and we were reflecting on your shared come up. Do you think that was a particularly special time in the history of Los Angeles music?

Thundercat: There’s always something. It’s more exciting to see what comes next. But you wouldn’t know that [that moment with Flying Lotus] was that. I didn’t realize until now how niche or how special the way we grew up was. It was Kamasi’s birthday yesterday and I posted a couple of photos, and it’s at like 15, 14, 13. I was just like, “Holy crap.” We were very fortunate to grow up the way, between Reggie Andrews and having places like Low End Theory, and a few different places that we grew up playing around, jazz festivals. It was just a really special time.

In hindsight, I definitely can see that [our coming up] was a thing, but in the middle of it, you’re just a crazy drunk musician. “Wait, I’m getting paid to do this? Alright, cool.”

What’s your relationship with the internet been like over these past many years?

I like to make it fun for myself. Is the internet enjoyable? No. But it’s like herpes, it isn't going anywhere.

Do you have fond memories of the earlier internet, early platforms that you genuinely enjoyed?

Yeah, early Twitter with me and Zack Fox, when nobody had to pay attention too much.

What’s your biggest complaint about the internet?

Too much information all the time. There’s also just enough information, J.E.I. I try to find that line [with my internet usage] of “That’s enough.” I try to do that on a daily basis. “Oh, that’s crazy, that’s cool. A couple beheadings … They just uncovered that Doritos are made of plastic. Great. I don’t eat Doritos. Oh, someone fell off... okay that’s great. That’s enough for me.

When did you realize that internet craziness would be the crux of this project?

All you gotta do is get caught cheating one time. That’ll change the tone of your whole entire life.

This record is a social commentary record, but it’s also a very personal one. How do you balance that?

I've always tried to hold true to being honest in my music. I don't go naming people, but every now and again somebody goes, “This song’s about me!” Get over yourself. [Laughs] No, it’s about pain in general. It’s my experience.

How do you avoid making things vague? You could hide —

Nah, it’s about cats jacking off, crying. “She left me, bro.” [Makes a badum tss sound effect]. You gotta laugh at some point.

Were you laughing during the making of this record?

Yeah. One song that’s always been funny to me in that respect is “She Knows Too Much.” It’s a fun moment between me, Mac and Taylor Graves. It’s absolute insanity. You could see Mac’s life straight out all the time, his not so special moments and special moments, breakups and all kinds of stuff.

How did you choose to put it on this album?

We knew it was going to be something, we just didn't know where. It leaked … It happens every now and again, but when that song leaked heavily, it was just like, “Oh man.” [We were] trying to figure out how to control it. Again, the internet… too much information.

[The song just] felt special, even when we would go back to it. We’d only revisit it a couple of times. Mac kind of continuously would move forward with things. He put a pin in something, but it was like, “Okay, keep going, there’s still more stuff to do.”

I loved the video you put together, that was really something with all the different animation styles. Can you just tell me a little bit about the process behind that?

[The director, Léa Esmaili ] had an idea already. She was kind of like, “How far can I go with this?” You know? I was like, “Man, do your worst.” This song is as straightforward exactly what it means to say, so what does that feel like to you? There’s several different animators that worked on it. But there is a part where it that was trying to capture the right sentiment of what it was like between [Mac Miller and I]. Not to make it too gut-wrenching emotionally and keep it lighthearted and silly. Not too heavy-handed on the nudity. There was one moment where I was like, “Make those titties bigger! We gotta compete with Cardi B. You gotta fix those.”

You just mentioned what you and Mac had together. Do you mind sharing a little bit what that relationship meant to you?

He was definitely like a brother to me. He’s family. He was an inspiration, and a beautiful human being all around. There’s nothing negative I would ever have to say about Mac. And at the same time, even if I did, it was probably merited. But he lives on.

I was thinking about the themes of the Distracted. Becoming a bass virtuoso at a young age meant since you were a kid, you had to lock in and be the opposite of “distracted,” right?

I think I've always been distracted [laughs]. I'm very fortunate for how I grew up with the friends and family that I did grow up with. I was always being surrounded with this as a young person that allowed it to grow in the manner that it has.

Do you think if you had access to these technological tools when you were a young person it would have challenged your ability to become this musician?

I did. We all grew up with the internet.

Don’t you think it’s changed in the past 10 years, though?

No, it’s about the same. We still don't have flying cars, man. It’s just uncovering nudes. What is peak internet? Uncovering some shit.

What was it like to lock in with Greg Kurstin on this album?

He’s a legend. We took to each other really quickly. Greg is an astounding musician and an amazing producer and would become a good friend also through the process. He probably thinks I'm crazy as hell. But I'm probably not the craziest he’s ever seen. This is sober Steve. A big difference. I would hope there was a notable difference. Sometimes I can understand why I drank though.

Why is that?

What do you mean why? In the year of our Lord 2026? What do you mean, “Why did you drink?”

How do you feel about putting another body of work out in the world?

It’s pretty trippy. It’s almost like I had to relearn how to be comfortable with myself doing it. The last album was a lot. It just took a second to try to come back in the room a bit.

What’d you do to recenter?

Just live life. I've always enjoyed touring and traveling and all the things that come with what I've done my whole life. At the same time, it was kind of one of those things where this album, that last album took a lot out of me, you know? It takes the time it takes.
I tried to take a moment and just understand that it’s just as important to take a step back. It’s hard to see when you’re hungry and you need to keep moving forward all the time. It’s just if hear it or heed it or not, you know?